Football Fans Favor Colts, Cowboys

One of the top teams in a new Harris Poll is last year’s Super Bowl champs – the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts have continued their steady rise in the rankings and move up one spot, from No. 3 last year to No 2 this year. As recently as 1999, the Colts were tied for Number 27 – but they have moved up each year since.

This year’s favorite may be a few years from their last Super Bowl, but the Dallas Cowboys are the favorite football team among adults who follow professional football, rising one spot since last year. Not that that is unusual for “America’s Team.’ Since the survey began in 1998, the Cowboys have always been in one of the top four positions, and usually in the top two. And with a 4-0 start, they are likely to remain a fan favorite.

Rounding out the top five are the Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 3, dropping from No. 1 last year), the Green Bay Packers (remaining at No. 4) and the Chicago Bears (No. 5, moving up one spot).

Harris Interactive also asked adults who follow professional football to look into the future and say which team they think will win the Super Bowl. One-quarter (25%) say that the Indianapolis Colts will be the winners, while 23% are inclined to favor the New England Patriots. These are the only two teams in double digits.

The two teams that made the largest movements up the list since last year are the San Diego Chargers who moved up from tied for 23rd to No. 10, and the New Orleans Saints, who moved up 10 positions, from No. 31 to tied for No. 21. This despite the fact that the poll was taken between September 11 and 18 (the Saints are 0-3, the Chargers 1-3). The two teams that lost the most ground since last year are the Tennessee Titans, who slid 11 spots, from No. 15 in 2006 to tied for No. 26 this year, and the Detroit Lions, who moved from tied for No. 17 to No. 25. Ironically, the Lions are currently 3-1, and the Titans 2-1.

Regionally Speaking

The Cowboys rule the roost in the West, but it’s the Green Bay Packers, not the Colts, that are the Number 1 favorite for fans in the Midwest. The New York Giants are the Number 1 favorite of those in the East, while in the West, the San Francisco 49ers are the favorite team (see below for a table of the top five in each region).

The percentage of those who say they follow professional football remains stable at about half of all adults (49%), while men (63%) are more likely to follow professional football than women (37%).

Generation Gaps

Over half (55%) of Baby Boomers (those aged 43-61) follow football, making it the largest generation of football followers. Just under half (49%) of both Gen Xers (those aged 31-42) and Matures (those aged 62 and older) follow football but just 42 percent of Echo Boomers (those aged 18-30) follow the sport.

Despite its reputation as being something less than cerebral, the more education one has, the more likely one follows professional football. While three in five (60%) of those with a post grad degree follow football, just 45% of those with a high school degree or less follow it.

The nationwide survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive between September 11 and 18, 2007 among 2,392 U.S. adults, of whom 1,182 follow professional football.

TOP FIVE NFL TEAMS – BY REGION

Region

East

Midwest

South

West

New York Giants

Green Bay Packers

Dallas Cowboys

San Francisco 49ers

Pittsburgh Steelers

Chicago Bears

Indianapolis Colts

San Diego Chargers

New England Patriots

Indianapolis Colts

Carolina Panthers

Oakland Raiders

Philadelphia Eagles

Cleveland Browns

Washington Redskins

Dallas Cowboys

New York Jets

Detroit Lions

Pittsburgh Steelers

Denver Broncos

Base: Adults who follow professional football

SUPER BOWL WINNER

“Regardless of your favorite team, who do you think will win the Super Bowl this year?”

Base: Adults who follow professional football

Total

%

Indianapolis Colts

25

New England Patriots

23

San Diego Chargers

8

Dallas Cowboys

7

Pittsburgh Steelers

6

Chicago Bears

5

Green Bay Packers

4

Note: all NFL teams got some support in the poll. But teams not listed above received only 2% – or less.NEA